Zen (Season 1)

Right after I finished watching this crime drama, my first thought was: I’m gonna miss this.

It’s set in Italy and is loosely based on a series of novels by British crime writer, Michael Dibdin.  The title character- Aurelio Zen is his full name- is a police detective of Venetian origin, working in Rome. As played by Rufus Sewell, he is dapper, charming, and with loads of self-deprecating humour.  He also has “a reputation for scrupulous integrity” that, in the dark corridors where politics and policing mingle, isn’t necessarily considered an asset.  Over the course of three feature-length episodes, we see him work on cases that include murders, suicide, and kidnapping.

While the cases are unexceptional, and their resolutions rather facile, it is the journey that they take Zen through that is interesting.  Even more is watching Zen balance the constantly conflicting interests of the powers above him, while extracting his own little pound of flesh, so to speak.  Most of all, it is the characters, the performances, and the atmosphere of the series that I found utterly fascinating and which linger on for me.

The series was originally aired in 2011 but despite a respectable viewership (and eight more source novels available), was never renewed.

Here is a link to the trailer.